Please attend a public hearing on H.B. 2289 (“Category A”) on Monday, February 16 at 8:30 a.m. in the House chamber.This is a DEP rules bill that would restore “Category A” (drinking water) status to the section of the Kanawha River that runs through Charleston.

Currently, about 31,000 miles of WV streams enjoy Category A status. This section of the Kanawha is one of a few exceptions.

Our greatest concern is that delegates who are sympathetic with the Manufacturers’ Association and the Coal Association will use this rule change to attempt to remove Category A status from the 31,000 miles of WV streams that currently enjoy it. But the arguments of these industry groups just don’t hold up. DEP Secretary Huffman told the Senate Natural Resources Committee that the past ten years have seen tens of billions of new investment in West Virginia by business and industry, and no one has indicated to him that meeting Category A requirements is a burden. He also told the committee that the DEP has reviewed effluent data from industries located on the 72-mile stretch of the Kanawha that’s the subject of the rule change, and these effuents already meet Category A requirements.

Tell the committee to 1) restore Category A designation to the section of the Kanawha that passes through Charleston, and 2) keep Category A status for the 31,000 miles of WV streams that currently enjoy it. Talking points are here. Contact information for Judiciary committee members is here; your calls and e-mails are needed also!

After the public hearing, please stick around to help us fill the room for the Senate Natural Resources committee meeting at 10 a.m. in Room 451M. Category A (S.B. 167) is on their agenda also. Contact info for those committee members is here.

Finally: the Senate Judiciary committee is expected to take up S.B. 423 on Monday or Tuesday. If this bill passes “as is,” it will gut the protections we gained via last year’s S.B. 373. Please contactmembers of the Senate Judiciary committee and tell them to rejectthisbill! Talking points are here.